ISI, BJP rejoice when communal riots take place: Shakeel Ahmed

New Delhi: In comments that are likely to fuel a controversy, Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmad on Friday drew parallels with Pakistan's ISI and BJP, saying both "rejoice" whenever communal riots erupt.

His tweet came a day after Rahul Gandhi's claim that intelligence agencies in Pakistan were approaching some victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots to lure them to terrorism sparking a row with the BJP, which said the Congress vice president tried to point the needle of suspicion at Muslims by his remarks.

"Really true! Whenever & wherever communal trouble erupts in this country two sets of people rejoice. Pakistan's ISI & India's Bhajpaei," Ahmad commented on the microblogging site Twitter.

Rahul had made the claim about Pakistan's intelligence agencies approaching Muzaffarnagar riot victims while speaking at a poll rally in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

Slamming the Congress vice president for his claim, BJP interpreted it as an attempt to cast doubts about the patriotism of Muslims and demanded that he tender an apology. The UP police said it had no information about the claim but would verify it.

Rahul said that he had been told by an intelligence official that as a consequence of the alleged communalization in Muzaffarnagar, there was a group of 10-15 Muslim youngsters, whose kin were killed, with whom intelligence agencies of Pakistan have established contact.

Rahul claimed that the official told him he was convincing the youngsters not to come under the influence of Pakistani operatives.